Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford Quotes

''Make them laugh, make them cry, and back to laughter. What do people go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise.... I am a servant of the people. I have never forgotten that.''

Mary Pickford (1893-1979), U.S. actor. As quoted in The International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, Volume III: Actors and Actresses, by Elaine Mancini (1986).

''One of the great penalties those of us who live our lives in full view of the public must pay is the loss of that most cherished birthright of man's privacy.''

Mary Pickford (1893-1979), U.S. actor. Sunshine and Shadow, ch. 22 (1955).
On the publicity that surrounded her break from her second husband, actor Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939). He had become quite publicly involved with another woman.

''It was occasions like this that made me more resolved than ever that my family would someday know real security. I never for a moment doubted that I myself would ultimately provide it for them.''

Mary Pickford (1893-1979), U.S. actor. Sunshine and Shadow, ch. 6 (1955).
Speaking of spring 1909, when she was sixteen. Her widowed mother and younger sister and brother, as well as she, acted on the New York stage and also toured with shows. There was very little money; they dreaded the touring, which economic necessity forced upon them, because it meant separation. By spring 1909, after a period together in New York City, they once again had to seek work on tour. Pickford's assumption of responsibility for the whole family extended back to her father's death when she was five. Ultimately, she would become a hugely popular movie star who was notorious for driving a hard business bargain.

''I wish to apologize for this picture and for my performance. I think they are both inexcusably bad.''

Mary Pickford (1893-1979), U.S. actor. Sunshine and Shadow, ch. 3 (1955).
The extremely popular Pickford claimed that she had never liked any one of her movies "in its entirety." She jumped to her feet and said this at a Pasadena preview of one of her movies when the audience "called for a speech."